The present invention relates to a vehicle seat and storage unit and particularly one which rotates between storage and use positions.
There exists a variety of seating arrangements by which seats can be folded from a use position in a vehicle to a flat position, providing a flat storage area for the vehicle. In most of these seating arrangements, such as in vans and utility vehicles such as a General Motors Suburban, when the seat is folded into a flat position to provide storage, the resultant flat surface is elevated above the foot rest floor level of the vehicle, thereby reducing the available storage volume. Other such seating arrangements, although providing folding seats which store into recesses within the body of the vehicle, have not utilized the seats to also define segregated storage areas when positioned in intermediate positions. Still further, the foldable seats of the prior art typically require a variety of connection links, pivot rods, feet and other structure for control of their folding and storage and, as a result, when in a use position for seating, the space under the seat is not available for additional storage.
As a result, there remains a need for a seating system in which a seat can be moved from a use position to a stored position or intermediate positions without removing the seat from the vehicle and which is easy to tumble out of the way to define a flexible seating arrangement with maximum storage and seating capacity. Also, there exists a need for a releasable latching mechanism to allow the vehicle operator or passenger to easily release the seat back and seat for movement between stored and use positions and selectively lock the seat back and seat in such positions.